What is the WTO?  back to top

Read and download explanations of what the WTO is and does.

Decision-making  back to top

• Organization chart
  All WTO members may participate in all councils, committees, etc, except Appellate Body, Dispute Settlement panels, Textiles Monitoring Body, and plurilateral committees.
  > Current WTO chairpersons
    
• Ministerial conferences
  The WTO’s top decision-making body. Meets at least once every two years.
    
• General Council
  Top day-to-day decision-making body. Meets regularly, normally in Geneva.
   
• Coherence
  Cooperation between multilateral institutions on global economic policy-making.

Membership  back to top

• Members and observers
    
• Accessions  
  How countries apply to join the WTO, and the current situation.
   
• Before 1995: GATT signatories before the WTO came into being
  The countries that had signed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade by the end of 1994 when the WTO replaced GATT as the organization overseeing the multilateral trading system.

WTO Secretariat  back to top

• Secretariat
  > Overview   > Mandate   > Work of Divisions   > Secretariat chart
    
• Budget
  2006      > Summary      > Contributions by individual members
  2005      > Summary      > Contributions by individual members
  2004      > Summary      > Contributions by individual members
  2003      > Summary      > Contributions by individual members
  2002      > Summary      > Contributions by individual members
  2001      > Summary      > Contributions by individual members
    
• Director-General
  Biodata, speeches, statements, and other information on Pascal Lamy. Plus historical information on his predecessors.
    
• Deputy Directors-General
    
• The WTO building: Centre William Rappard
  > Brochure (pdf format; 16 pages, 881KB; opens in a new window)

Assistance for developing countries  back to top

• Technical cooperation
• WTO training courses

Anniversary events  back to top

• 80th anniversary of the CWR
• 10th anniversary of the WTO
• 50th anniversary of the GATT/WTO

Annual publications  back to top

• WTO Annual Reports
• World Trade Report
• International Trade Statistics 

Jobs in the WTO  back to top

• Vacancies
• WTO internship programme

Glossary  back to top

How to contact the WTO  back to top

General enquiries, publications, the website. Also copyright and trademark statements.